Bambi's has Soul....Handmade Soul

An open letter to Bambi's...vive le chic, who so generously encourages and supports my soul....


I read this article the other morning on Etsy, which although it is written with an on-line shop angle, it is so in tune with what you, Bambi,  are offering in a tangible spot.

"soul is evident in handmade items. As makers, we all know that something that is hand crafted is made with care and attention, by a real person who is attentive to the process and whose creative energy has brought something new and beautiful into the world."

Putting Soul in your Handmade Shop http://www.etsy.com/teams/5002/etsy-success/discuss/6854816/?utm_source=bronto&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Putting+Soul+Into+Your+Shop&utm_content=etsy_success_041411&utm_campaign=etsy_success_041411

That's what you are cultivating. I have always felt when you make things, there is all that energy and karma being immersed into your kraft. Love behind the stitches, happiness strung together in your choice of colors and style, intentions breathing life into each new creation. I find myself thinking of the ideas and creations that I have, as my babies---they are born--they hatch out...        

"Handmade has soul" and it is evident in the art. It talks to me when I am there, especially your jewelry Jane, and the happy face glass pieces, in Violet's Recyclable to Fashionable, and the line of photo cards on the desk by Ellen J. Keiter, the Birch birdhouses and the Teacup feeders....  

I know the "soul" is there---it's bursting at the seems. Thanks for letting me be part of it.


Yours, Yo-Jean

Katy Delforno gave us something solid words to hang on to...

No other path.
No other way.
No day but today.

What is on your Windowsill?

What is on your kitchen windowsill? Is that an odd question?

As a mother and as a woman, I have spent many hours standing at my sink or in my kitchen. My kitchen is the space where much happens. It is the space where the ideas hatch and where they come to life, where my family gathers, where I chat with friends, where papers are written, where quilts are sewn, research is done, cards are made, celebrations happen, homework is done, besides the usual cooking and dinners...it is my office and my studio. So it is also a place where many of the things I love collect....especially my windowsill, since I have a passion for little things. So here is what is on mine....

This little Asian doll that I rescued at from my mother's---the wood is split so she is held together  with a little bread tie. I think she started life as a top to an extra large souvenir pencil.

A jar of sea glass from one on my many trips to the beach...meditation in a jar.

A vintage Matt Dillon U.S. Marshal's badge, a model of the Marshall Point Lighthouse in Maine,and a rooster from Red Rose Tea (you can't imagine how many boxes of tea my mother drank and how many figures we've had)

A Grumble buddy given to by my brother-in-law from one of his  Chemo treatments, yellow shells in a milk glass Cold Cream jar, and a charm to remind me to "Simplify"---and probably the only grass we'll have at my house this year. 

A duck from Red Rose Tea, my Momiji doll-she has a secret message , a cat from a bubblegum machine, and a toy pig reminding me of my mother's collection. 

The tiniest sand dollars and clam shells that I collected as a child...

I always hope to find some money----one day I found money at the beach--giggle.

More tiny bits of sea glass, marbles and a stone heart from my sister, a tiny piece of driftwood that was a primitive heart---now it is heart-broken like me... 

A jar of sand dollars and an odd collection of fortunes, and toy Buddha and Zenmaster  

Words of  Wisdom...

One of the tiny robots that the kids had years ago...and of course when I took this picture I thought, I should Picnik this. 

So that photo became a quick e-mail card to my Sister, to make her smile as we try to settle our mother's property.

So all that, from a thought while I made coffee yesterday morning.....what is on your windowsill? 

What inspires you?

I Don't Have a Job...or so I Have Been Told--What is the value of this non-job?

I recently came across a note that I had written in 2007....today it still rings true. There are still people telling me that I don't have a job. At this time I am the mother of 4 teenagers---19, 17, 15, 13 and I can tell you that there is no way anyone can prepare you for that part of motherhood. It does not even enter your brain when you think of having a sweet little one....

That being said I have been lucky to "not have a job" for nearly 18 years....

       October 11, 2007,

I didn’t get a paycheck last week, nor did I get one in the 735 ½ weeks before that. I get 3 days off,  once or sometimes twice a year. My job is always incomplete. It requires careful attention to detail and constant re-evaluation.

I have crafted over 51 costumes and 25 quilts, washed over 9000 loads of laundry, cooked over 4382 dinners, decorated well over 3000 cookies, made 5000+ peanut butter balls, made innumerable lunches, changed over 24,000 diapers, made play dough, bubbles, tepees and books, cataloged and leveled 3000+ children’s books, recorded and researched more than 6000 ancestors, scanned hundreds of antique photos, bought thousands of gallons of milk and read hundreds of books…What is the value of my job?

When it is recorded this way it certainly appears to be a job,and this only touched on some of the highlights of the things I have been doing while I didn't have a job.

What does it count for? It was not enough...